License plate reading Flock cameras will go dark after community outcry in Minnesota
The short version: Columbia Heights, Minnesota is pulling the plug on Flock cameras after residents pushed back hard on the surveillance creep, proving public pressure works.
Our Take
Score one for the folks who showed up and said no. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard reports that Columbia Heights officials are switching off their Flock ALPR cameras after residents called it out for what it is: Big Brother creeping into a small Minnesota suburb one license plate scan at a time. Law enforcement did what law enforcement always does when this tech is threatened — insisted it's indispensable for solving crime. But "it helped us once" isn't a reason to blanket a town in automated tracking that logs where everyone drives, all day, every day, with no warrant and often no real oversight.
This is exactly the pattern we track at DeFlock: a city quietly signs a Flock contract, cameras go up with little public debate, and only after residents start asking questions does anyone find out how much data is being vacuumed up and who gets to see it. Columbia Heights deserves credit for actually reversing course instead of just promising "more transparency" while the cameras keep running. That's rarer than it should be.
If you want to know whether Flock or similar plate-reading cameras are already watching your commute, check our camera map. And if your city council hasn't had its own "Big Brother" moment yet, our take-action resources can help you make sure they do before the contract gets signed, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.